The man, from the Stroud area, was found guilty at Gloucester Crown Court last Wednesday, March 15 following a two week trial on 26 counts of sexually abusing seven girls – six of them family members – between the 1970s and 2008.
During the trial, the court heard that the man abused his daughter, raped his sister on his own wedding day and abused a teenage niece, making her pregnant.
Prosecutor Mark Worsley told the court at the outset of the trial that the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was able to carry out the abuse because of a matriarchal ‘keep it in the family’ attitude from his mother and his grandmother which prevented the authorities being alerted.
“There are some common themes running between the victims. The man was well-liked within the family, which was headed by a matriarchal woman,” Mr Worsley told the jury.
“Over the years they were recipients of complaints from various abused victims within the family, children and grandchildren.
“The response to them was a mixture of disbelief but above all a ‘keep it within the family’ approach as the family name was not to be tarnished and nothing that the defendant was alleged to have done should get out of the family circle.
“On two separate occasions, however, victims ended up in hospital. One, his niece, was for an abortion after becoming pregnant by him, the other was for a breakdown. Both were removed from hospital by the family matriarch before they could saying anything as to why they were there.
“All the victims of the man’s unwanted sexual attention had to live with the consequences as they were unable to do anything about it.
“The victims each said that the man had told them that if they said anything to anybody in authority they would not be believed and it would also mean that they would face adverse consequences should they pursue the point.”
Speaking to the court after the verdicts were announced, Sarah Jenkins, defending, explained that since thee accusations surfaced in 2017, the man had become estranged from his family and lived a solitary existence.
